The Wisconsin Badgers travel to take on the Purdue Boilermakers in college football action Saturday. The game is scheduled for a noon start time and it will be televised live on ESPNu. Currently the odds for the game have Wisconsin favored by a comfortable margin.
Purdue welcomes in a Wisconsin team that sits at 3-1 in the Big Ten standings so far this season. The Badgers have just two losses on the season overall, dumping a fourth-quarter lead to LSU to open the season before a poor loss at Northwestern at the beginning of October. Since that loss to the Wildcats, Wisconsin has played like a much different team, scoring better than 42 points per game while holding their opponents to just over 11 points per game. Illinois certainly skewed that number by posting 28 points in their loss to the Badgers while Maryland scored just seven points and Rutgers was shut out on their own field last week.
Wisconsin, as we know, loves to run the football. The Badgers rank third best in the country at 333 yards per game on the ground, led by darkhorse Heisman candidate Melvin Gordon. He's just another in a long line of very good Wisconsin tailbacks and has nearly 1,300 yards on the ground already. He's averaged 7.5 yards per carry this season as nobody has been able to slow him down, scoring 18 touchdowns. The second back in the system is very good as well. Corey Clement had gained almost 700 yards himself (6.6 per carry) with seven touchdowns. Purdue is certainly going to have a tough time slowing the Badger backs down and history is not on their side.
The Boilermakers have lost eight straight games to Wisconsin, covering none of those games, either. Wisconsin has won each of the last four games by an average of 32 points per game.
Purdue has won two of their five games at home this season, beating Western Michigan and Southern Illinois. They've lost games, however, to Central Michigan, Iowa and Michigan State in games where they looked solid at times but were unable to get the win. This is the second week in a row Wisconsin will be on the road, but the Badgers should be ready to go in this one.
Purdue has covered the number in four straight games overall and are 7-2 against the spread this season. The Boilers are going to need a good game from Austin Appleby, who has done well since being named the starter. That has only gotten the Purdue team one win, but has made them at least look decent at times.
Wisconsin is just going to be too much, though.
Free Pick: Wisconsin 38, Purdue 17
College Football Free Picks: Oregon vs Utah Betting
What college football bettors need to know about betting Oregon Ducks vs Utah Utes on Saturday (11/08/14) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Bryan Leonard with added insight from Brady Kannon.